PHIL 848P:
SEMINAR IN ETHICS:
PHILOSOPHERS ON LOVE
Fall 2020
T 4:40-7:10 pm, Skinner 1116
Patricia Greenspan, instructor
pg@umd.edu
www.philosophy.umd.edu/Faculty/PGreenspan
1101A Skinner Hall
Th 2:30-3:30 pm and by appointment
Since Plato's Symposium philosophers have expressed
different views of love, considered mainly as a personal
relationship that might or might not be expressed in emotion.
Our emphasis will be on contemporary work, starting with Frankfurt's
attempt to characterize love in terms of the desire to benefit the
love-object -- thought of as "active" in a sense that would satisfy
Kant. We'll go on to explore objections and alternatives to
Frankfurt, and eventually to consider love as an emotion.
Prerequisite: Graduate status in
philosophy or permission of the instructor
Our required readings will be drawn from a set of articles
and books to be made available online. The order of our
initial readings is given in the tentative
schedule of initial readings. Further readings will be
determined by student interest. Once the course is underway,
students will generally lead discussion of the readings.
The only written requirement of the course will be a
substantial (c.20-page) term paper. Course grades will be
determined largely by the paper, but with a serious boost for class
participation (up to one full grade -- or more, for outstanding
performance). Students should start thinking about paper
topics early enough to be able to do a presentation later in the
course for feedback on their main ideas.
This syllabus is available, along with supporting
information about policies of the instructor, on the
instructor’s website (click on “courses”). Later handouts or
other material distributed or presented in slide format during
class, along with copies of the readings (accessible with
"Greenspan" as your username and password), will be posted under
"course
materials”as the term proceeds.